Atheist TV channel to launch worldwide on July 29

Will stream for free on Roku.

A television channel for atheists will launch July 29, the American Atheists announced Wednesday.

Atheist TV will feature a variety of atheist programming, and is the first channel of its kind in the world. Roku, Inc. will exclusively stream the free channel through their set-top boxes.

American Atheists President David Silverman said that the channel is overdue.

"There are hundreds of TV channels dedicated to religious programming, but nothing like this has ever existed before for atheists, and yet the demand is overwhelming," he said in a statement.

"For the first time, atheist video content – from firebrand speeches, to stand-up comedy, to documentaries, to real science-based educational programming, and more – is now available to atheists worldwide, on the air, and all in one place."

The channel will also air past atheist events, episodes of "The Atheist Viewpoint" – a television show formerly hosted by the late American Atheists founder Madalyn Murray O'Hair, atheist video blog content, and more.

"Atheist TV brings consistent, quality, superstition-free programming for children and adults, on the air and on-demand, right from your regular television," Silverman said. "This is an idea whose time has come and we're celebrating.

"The launch of Atheist TV is history in the making."

In addition to streaming through the television, the channel will also be viewable on atheists.tv and video-on-demand.

American Atheists are hosting a launch party for the new channel on July 29 in Manhattan. The invite-only event will feature prominent atheists, television producers, Atheist TV sponsors, and others. There will also be a countdown to the first broadcast of Atheist TV, which will premiere at 7 p.m. ET.

Atheist TV will air 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Silverman expects the channel to reach seven million households.